Game 2 is here.
It was a thrilling Knicks’ performance in Game 1 highlighted by Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride.
McBride came off the bench and delivered 21 points for the Knicks. Brunson was up to his usual standard with 22 points.
Meanwhile for Philadelphia, Joel Embiid survived an injury scare and still had 29 points in 37 minutes.
Tyrese Maxey continued his breakout season with 33 points for the Sixers.
Will the Knicks continue to get solid contributions from the bench? Or will Embiid and Maxey even the series up?
Follow along with The Post’s live updates of the latest news, highlights and scores from Madison Square Garden.
Joel Embiid played through the sore knee Monday night. And the curses from the sold-out crowd. What he couldn’t overcome was the endgame incompetence from his team. Philadelphia lost a contest it had all but won, a 104-101 first-round Game 2 heartbreaker against the Knicks before 19,812 at the Garden. The ball left Joel Embiid’s hands just as the final buzzer groaned at Madison Square Garden, just as 19,812 witnesses who’ll all be voiceless Tuesday morning tried to steer the ball sideways. Embiid is terrifying at all times, even on one leg; now he was all that stood in the way of ruining one of the most thrilling Knicks playoff endings you’ll ever see. The Knicks were dead. They were down five with under 30 seconds to go, and it had sounded like someone kicked a plug out of the wall at the Garden. They’d fallen behind 9-0 quick, then they’d blown an eight-point lead midway through the fourth. The 76ers were going to steal this, pilfer home court. All they needed to do was dot the I’s and cross the T’s. “At that point,” Josh Hart would say, “we had nothing to lose.”Joel Embiid vows 76ers will win series after crushing loss to Knicks: ‘We’re the better team’
By Brian Lewis READ MORE
Knicks’ unwavering belief produced improbable comeback that’ll never be forgotten
By Mike Vaccaro READ MORE
Nick Nurse was frustrated.
He even checked the game footage to make sure it was warranted, too.
But the 76ers coach claimed in his postgame press conference — after the Knicks stunned the 76ers with a miraculous 27-second sequence where they hit a 3-pointer, stole a pass and hit another 3 to win Game 2 — that he tried to call a timeout twice, and on both occasions, he alleged, the referee ignored him.
“We take a look at getting it in quick,” Nurse told reporters after the Knicks’ 104-101 win Monday at the Garden. “We don't get it in quick. I call timeout. Referee looked right at me. Ignored me. Went into Tyrese [Maxey]. I called timeout again, and then the melee started.
“Yeah, I mean, I guess I gotta run out onto the floor or do something to make sure and get his attention. Needed a timeout there to advance it. Would've been good. But couldn't get it.”
It was a shot so clutch that Knicks broadcaster Mike Breen had to break out the double “bang.”
The signature call came as the Knicks pulled off a stunning 104-101 win over the 76ers in Game 2 that sent a delirious Knicks fan base spilling into the streets in jubilation as the Knicks took a 2-0 series lead at the Garden on Monday.
“Maxey gets knocked down. Hart takes it away. Out to DiVincenzo, his shot won’t go,” Breen said on the MSG broadcast as he called the chaotic play. “Hartenstein the rebound. Hartenstein gets it out to Anunoby. DiVincenzo a three. Bang! Bang! Knicks take a one-point lead with 13 seconds remaining!”
Knicks fans left the Garden in ecstatic jubilation Monday night after a 27-second swing late in the game turned it from a potential 1-1 series to a 2-0 lead.
The Knicks have had some wild finishes this season already — their wild win over the Pistons on Feb. 26 comes to mind — but Monday was something different, as Jalen Brunson hit a game-tying 3-pointer and then Donte DiVincenzo put the Knicks ahead for good with a trey of his own.
“I mean listen to this. This is what we do,” DiVincenzo told MSG Network with a deafening roar coming from the Madison Square Garden crowd in the background on Monday night after Game 2 of the opening round series. “This who we do it for. That’s it. 2-0.”
The incredible sequence first started with just under 40 seconds left on the clock and the Knicks down 101-96.
It was the miracle off Broadway.
In a hectic and thrilling span of 14 seconds, the Knicks turned a five-point deficit into a one-point advantage and rode the moment to a 104-101 crazy victory at MSG.
The big shot came from Donte DiVincenzo, whose trey gave the Knicks the lead. But the sequence requires a full accounting:
Playing poorly all evening, Jalen Brunson finally connected on a 3-pointer — his first of the fourth quarter — to cut the lead to 2 with 27 seconds left.
It required a lucky bounce off the rim.
Josh Hart only needed three words and two emojis to describe the Knicks' Game 2 miracle.
"Oh My God," he wrote in a post on X, followed by orange and blue hearts. Hart scored 21 points, but 19 of those came in the first half — when he almost singlehandedly kept the Knicks within striking distance of the 76ers.
Oh My God 🧡💙
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) April 23, 2024
Mike Breen pulled out his signature “Bang” call for Donte DiVincenzo’s game-winning shot that gave the Knicks a one-point lead with 13 seconds left — and it was such an iconic sequence that he even said it twice.
“DiVincenzo a 3,” Breen said, after initially describing the chaotic stretch that led to the shot, “Bang. Bang. Knicks take a one-point lead with 13 seconds remaining.”
Mike Breen’s call of the Knicks-Sixers ending is as electric as you’d expect it to be https://t.co/lPESIEhFpB
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 23, 2024
It didn't make sense. It might not for the rest of the series. But somehow, the Knicks defeated the 76ers in Game 2 to take a commanding series lead.
Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo hit 3-pointers around a 76ers turnover in the final 20 seconds, turning what appeared to be a heartbreaking defeat into a thrilling win.
DIVINCENZO AND BRUNSON DRILL BACK-TO-BACK 3'S AND THE KNICKS TAKE THE LEAD! 🔥
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2024
13.1 REMAINING IN GAME 2 ON TNT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/x0PwLjhsbw
First, it started with Brunson's 3-pointer, which bounced up into the air and back into the net. Then, Josh Hart forced a steal after the inbounds, allowing DiVincenzo to have an open shot from beyond the arc.
But when he missed the initial chance, Isaiah Hartenstein snagged the rebound, swinging his way through a cluster of 76ers players and getting the ball to OG Anunoby. After one more pass, DiVincenzo had another open shot, and this time, he didn't miss.
First, it was Jalen Brunson with a 3-pointer. Then, Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed an offensive rebound, and somehow, Donte DiVincenzo ended up with the ball in his hands, connected on a 3 and gave the Knicks a 102-101 lead with 13 seconds left.
The Knicks forced a turnover on the inbounds after Brunson's 3, setting up DiVincenzo for one of the biggest makes of his Knicks tenure.
The 76ers tried challenging a reach-in foul call on Kyle Lowry, when he was attempting to defend OG Anunoby, but it was ruled unsuccessful.
Jalen Brunson then missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing sequence, keeping the Knicks’ deficit at four with less than a minute remaining.
Tyrese Maxey hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:09 left to give the 76ers a 100-96 lead, leading to a timeout.
Philadelphia left Josh Hart open at the other end of the court for a shot beyond the arc, and after the Knicks’ first-half hero missed the jumper, Maxey converted his latest 3 at the other end. He has now scored 35 points.
